4 things to be aware of before selling on eCommerce marketplaces
Calling retailers of all shapes and sizes! There’s a lot of money to be made by making your products available on various marketplaces, like Amazon, eBay and Rakuten (formerly Buy.com). It's good to be aware, however, that with those opportunities, comes an additional cache of responsibilities.
It’s one thing to toss your goods onto an eCommerce marketplace, but it’s quite another to do it following best practices:
1. Tracking inventory
Amazon suggests that merchants update their online inventory on a daily basis to avoid stock-outs that may occur when a buyer purchases an item that a retailer might not have on hand. So is true on all of the other large marketplaces, which means that a seller will most likely need a dedicated staff person to hold the responsibility of managing inventory.
If a merchant can’t delegate a designated staff to manage these activities, orders could be canceled due to lack of inventory. In those situations, not only is the sale lost, but the merchant’s brand reputation is subject to a "ding" or a tarnish on the associated marketplace seller rankings lists.
2. Order confirmation to buyers
Most marketplaces will notify a seller via e-mail when a purchase is made. However, it’s recommended that merchants regularly check their accounts for timely updates on sales. As soon as an order is received, merchants are responsible for notifying the marketplace of the ship date and the carrier being utilized. After doing so, Amazon, for example, will handle the order and shipping notifications to the buyer. As is true with inventory, to stay on top of acknowledgements, it's recommended that a merchant leverage an in-house employee to monitor purchases.
3. Product image submissions
Each marketplace has its own set of guidelines in terms of uploading product image photography. In addition to photo dimensions, there are also other parameters to be aware of, such as the use of borders on images, text within those images and even the way the image file name is presented. With Sears, for example, all file names must be in lowercase using the underscore for multiple word spacing. Producing images to fit those guidelines will determine the potential selling success for a merchant's products.
4. Product descriptions
When it comes to the different sets of requirements for listing a product, each marketplace has its own nuances. For most, like Rakuten.com, a merchant must choose a category to list a product under. Surprisingly, selecting the appropriate category isn’t as straightforward as some might assume.
According to ChannelAdvisor.com, Amazon provides “an extensive series of documents that explain all of the different data requirements for products in all of the various Amazon categories.” The editors there continue by stressing the importance of “familiarizing yourself with these pages … [as] a fundamental step to listing successfully on Amazon.” So is true across most third-party marketplaces. For the specifics on how to successfully list products on the various marketplaces, follow the links for Amazon, eBay, Sears, NewEgg and Rakuten.
For retailers who don’t have the sufficient staff to properly manage inventory and product acknowledgements, the process can be automated. SaaS services, like NetSphere Strategies’ BalanceMaxx, can handle the job of downloading a merchant’s orders, uploading and acknowledging order status information, and synchronizing inventory data with each marketplace.
To ensure that product images and descriptions meet a marketplace’s needs, a retailer can outsource help from seasoned professionals who know the process top to bottom. To connect with a knowledgeable marketplace resource, contact NetSphere Strategies. We’d be happy to connect you with a long-time partner that specializes in third-party marketplace optimization.
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